Tory MPs refuse to accept findings on Brexit by their own Brexit committee

Pro-Brexit Tory MPs have rejected the findings of their own parliamentary committee, which concluded that Theresa May made “unsubstantiated” claims about Britain’s relationship with the European Union.

The Commons Brexit Select Committee deduced the Prime Minister’s statement that “no deal” on post-Brexit trade with the bloc was better than a bad deal was not supported by evidence.

The cross-party panel in turn called for Parliament to be given a vote on whether to accept Ms May’s decision to exit the EU without trade agreements in place at the end of the two-year negotiation process. It also requested the Government conduct a thorough public report of the consequences of crashing out of the EU without agreements in place on future trade relations

He and five others pro-Brexit MPs sitting on the committee voted against the inquiry’s conclusion. It followed reports that a number of Eurosceptic MPs walked out of a private committee meeting chaired by Labour’s Hilary Benn a week before the paper’s publication, saying it was “too gloomy”

Five Conservatives in total, including Mr Raab, the former culture minister John Whittingdale and Democratic Unionist Sammy Wilson voted against the report, but were outnumbered by 10 Labour, Tory, Liberal Democrat, SNP and SDLP committee members, all of whom backed Remain in last year’s referendum.